STUDY

TIME!
As you go along with this module, you will be
reading the story Ramayana, an epic from India.
The story was written by Maharshi Valmiki, a Hindu
sage who lived around the beginning of the first
millennium B.C. He is referred to as the 'adikavi',
the original creator of the Hindu 'sloka' - a verse
form in which most of the great epics such as
Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, and other works
are composed.
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit
comprising of 24,000 verses in seven cantos.
The epic contains the teachings of the very
ancient Hindu sages. It is one of the most
important literary works of ancient India which
greatly influenced art and culture in the Indian
subcontinent and South-East Asia.
The Story
of
Ramayana
by Maharshi Valmiki
Rama, always obedient, was as content to go into
banishment in the forest as to be crowned king. Sita
convinced Rama that she would always be at his side and
his brother Lakshmana also begged to accompany them.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana set out to the forest.
Bharata, whose mother's evil plot had won him the
throne, was very upset when he found out what had
happened. Not for a moment he did consider breaking the
rules of dharma and becoming king in Rama's place. He
went to Rama's forest retreat and begged Rama to return
and rule, but Rama refused. "We must obey father," Rama
says. Bharata then took Rama's sandals saying, "I will put
these on the throne, and every day I shall place the fruits
of my work at the feet of my Lord." Embracing Rama, he
took the sandals and returned to Ayodhya.
Years passed and Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana
were very happy in the forest. Rama and
Lakshmana destroyed the rakshasas (evil
creatures) who disturbed the sages in their
meditations.
One day a rakshasa princess named
Shurpanakha tried to seduce Rama, and
Lakshmana wounded her and drove her away.
She returned to her brother Ravana, the ten-
headed ruler of Lanka (Sri Lanka, formerly
Ceylon), and told her brother, who is always
attracted to beautiful women, about lovely Sita.
Ravana devised a plan to abduct Sita. He sent
a magical golden deer which Sita desired
Rama to hunt. A long time had passed, but
Rama didn’t return. Thus, Lakshmana went off
to find his brother. Before leaving Sita,
Lakshmana drew a protective circle around
Sita and warned her that she would be safe if
she would stay within the circle. As they went
off, Ravana, who could change his shape,
appeared as a holy man begging alms. The
moment Sita stepped outside the circle to give
him food, Ravana grabbed her and carried her
Rama was broken-hearted when he returned to
the empty hut and could not find Sita. A band of
monkeys led by Hanuman offered to help him
find Sita. Ravana carried Sita to his palace in
Lanka, but he could not force her to be his wife.
So, he put her in a grove and alternately sweet-
talked her and threatened her in an attempt to
get her to agree to marry him. Sita would not
even look at him but thought only of her beloved
Rama. Hanuman, the general of the monkey
band could fly since his father was the wind, and
he flew to Lanka and found Sita in the grove,
comforted her, and told her Rama would come
 What do you call
the place where the
story happened?

 What refers to the

people present in the
story?

The answers to these

questions are some of
the elements of the
story. You will find
out more about these
as you explore this
What is Literature?
Literature. It refers to a body of written
works such as poetry, novels, history,
biography, and essays that reflects the
background of a certain culture. It is
derived from the Latin word
litaritura/litteratura which means “writing
formed with letters.”
There are a number of ways that literature
is classified. The most basic types of
literature are fiction and non-fiction.
What are the Types of Literature?
1. Fiction. It is a type of literature that is a product of a writer’s
imagination. It can be inspired by actual or completely made-up
events. It is usually created through the use of clear details that
we recognize or that move us in some ways.
Examples:
The story “The Soul of the Great Bell” is a
Chinese fiction retold in English by Lafcadio
Hearn. The story is all about a girl named Ko-
Ngai, a virgin maiden, who sacrificed her life to
save her father Kouan-Yu from the anger of the
Son of Heaven and Yung-Lo. Her blood was the
main ingredient to successfully make the great
bell.
Another example of fiction is the “Story of the Aged
Mother,” a Japanese folktale by Matsuo Basho. It is
about a son and his mother going through struggles
because of the unkind ruler who issued cruel orders
which included among others, sending the elderly
to the mountain to be abandoned and left to die.
However, the son took good care of his mother.
Meanwhile, the governor ordered that whoever
could bring him a rope made of ashes would be
honored. It was the mother’s wisdom that saved the
entire town when the son revealed that it was his
aged mother’s brilliant idea to make the order
possible. The governor, in the end, denounced his
previous order of killing all aged people.
2. Nonfiction. It is a type of literature that
is based on facts. It is a writing about real
people, places, and events which include
biographies, auto-biographies, and
interviews.
Example:
“Long Walk to Freedom” is an
autobiography, a self-written story, of
Nelson Mandela
who was a South African activist and
What are the Elements of a Story?
1. Setting. It refers to the time and
place in which the action of the
story happens.
Example:
In Ramayana, there is more than
one setting such as Ayodhya, Lanka,
and the forest (place). The story
happened a long time ago (time).
2. Plot. It is defined as an
interrelated sequence of
events in a story where each
event affects the other, thus
showing the cause-and-effect
relationship. The illustration
below shows the sequence of
events of the story Ramayana.
a. Exposition/Initial Action. This is the very beginning of a story. In this
part, authors usually introduce the major characters and setting to the reader.
In the illustration above, the author introduces the place Ayohdya as the
setting
and presents the characters King Dasharata, Rama, and Sita.
b. Rising Action. This is the part when tension starts to build. It usually
involves facing and conquering minor conflicts, which is what keeps the plot
moving
forward.
In the illustration above, the tension started when Ravana devised a plan to
abduct Sita.
c. Climax. This is the part of the story where the characters finally have to
face and solve the major conflict. This is the "peak" of the plot or the highest
point of
interest where all the tensions of the rising action lead to the success or
failure of
d. Falling Action. This is everything that
happens after the climax but before the
resolution. This is when the tension lessens
and starts bringing the action to a close.
In the illustration above, the tension started
to lessen when Rama saved Sita, returned to
Ayodhya, and became the king.
e. Resolution/Denouement. This is the
conclusion or ending of a story.
In the illustration above, the story ended
when Rama ruled Ayodhya in peace and
3. Character. It refers to a person, an
object, an animal, or imaginary creature
personified in the story. There are two
types of characters: the protagonist and
the antagonist.
a. Protagonist. It is the main character
who does heroic acts in the story.
In the story Ramayana, Rama is the
protagonist since he does the heroic acts of
saving Sita and winning the battle against
Ravana.
4. Conflict. It refers to the problem that
the main characters have to face. The
conflict of the story has four major types:
man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs.
society, and man vs. supernatural.
Man vs. man. It is the conflict of the
story in which the struggle is between the
protagonist and the antagonist. In this
conflict, the protagonist wants something,
and the antagonist obstructs the
protagonist from getting what he wants.
Example:
In Ramayana, the author illustrates man vs. man conflict when Rama fought
against Ravana who abducted Sita.
Man vs. self. It is a conflict that takes place within the character himself. It
often involves the character in making a decision between right and wrong.
Example:
Dasharatha had a conflict within himself in his decision to set Rama into
banishment even against his own will.
Man vs. society. It is a conflict that occurs when the character has a conflict
with the government, cultural, or societal tradition.
Example:
In Ramayana, the author shows man vs. society when everyone including the
band of monkeys fought against Ravana to save Sita.
Man vs. supernatural. It is a conflict that happens when the protagonist faces
a struggle against a god, gods, and supernatural forces.
Example:
In Ramayana, the author depicts man vs. supernatural type of conflict when
5. Point of View. This is the angle of narration or the
perspective from which the story is told. It can be classified
as first person and third person.
a. First Person. The narrator is a character in the story
who can reveal only personal thoughts and feelings. It uses
the personal pronoun I.
Example:
“I was standing in the dark. I was scared and cold. Then, I
felt something on my shoulder, and it was a hand. I was
trying to get away, but it wouldn’t let me go. I screamed as
loud as I could, but no one heard me.” – In the Dark
b. Third person. This is when the narrator is removed
from the story and tells it from an outside perspective. To
do this, the narrator uses personal pronouns like "he,"
"she," and "they" to refer to the characters in the story.
6. Theme. It refers to the central idea or message
of a story.
In Ramayana, the author illustrates man vs. self-
type of conflict when King
In Ramayana, the theme is about showing love and
doing one’s duties and responsibilities, or known as
dharma. Rama showed his love to Sita by saving
her from the enemy. He also performed his duties
and responsibilities as a king, husband, son, and
brother, respectively.
Sources: https://literaryterms.net/.
https://education.seattlepi.com/types-conflict-can-